Combination washer-dryer construction



Jan. 10, 1961 Filed April 2.4, 1958 J. BOCHAN COMBINATION WASHER-DRYERCONSTRUCTION F'IG.1

3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. :rox-m BOCHAN HIS ATTORNEY Jan. 10, 1961Filed April 24. 1958 J. BOCHAN COMBINATION WASHER-DRYER CONSTRUCTION 3Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. JOH N BOG-HAN HIS ATTORNEY United States PatentCOMBINATION WASHER-DRYER CONSTRUCTION John Bochan, Louisville, Ky.,assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York FiledApr. 24, 1958, Ser. No. 730,579

2 Claims. (Cl. 68-24) This invention relates to combinationwasher-dryers which provide a washing cycle which includes centrifugalextraction of the clothes and a subsequent heated drying cycle; moreparticularly, it relates to an arrangement for inhibiting sticking ofclothes to the inner surface of the clothes receptacle of the machineafter the termination of the centrifugal extraction phase of theoperation.

Combination washer-dryers perform the combined function of washingmachines and drying machines, that is, the same machine washes theclothes and then dries them completely. The washing portion of thesequence which is provided is in general approximately the same as thatof standard washing machines in that it includes a washing cycle, atleast one rinse cycle to get rid of the washing liquid, and acentrifuging or spin operation to get most of the rinse liquid out ofthe clothes. These operations are immediately followed by the dryingoperation in which heat is provided to vaporize moisture from theclothes as they are tumbled in the clothes receptacle. One problem whichhas presented itself in such machines is the tendency of the clothes inthe rotating receptacle, or basket, to adhere to the walls of the basketafter the last centrifuging operation if that operation is conducted ata sufficiently high speed to remove a substantial proportion of theliquid in the clothes. This occurs to the extent that, if no correctivemeasures are taken, the clothes remain in a relatively tight annulus,adhering to the inner basket surface during heat drying instead oftumbling about in the receptacle. This results in the clothes remainingwet because only a small portion thereof is directly exposed to theheat.

With some machines, an attempt to solve the problem has been made bykeeping the centrifuging speed under the sticking speed; this, ofcourse, leaves more liquid remaining in the clothes than if a higherspeed were permissible. Other machines have provided other solutionssuch as compound spin cycles where the unsticking effect is provided bypredetermined variations in the centrifuging speed of rotation of thebasket. In any event, all combination machines have to meet the problemin some manner or other: the clothes cannot be permitted to remain stuckto the periphery of the receptacle after the last spin of the washingportion of the operation since otherwise they would not present enoughsurface to the heat for drying to be effected as desired.

It is accordingly a primary object of the invention to provide new andimproved anti-sticking means for use in a combination washer-dryermachine, automatic in its operation, permits without sticking speedswhich would otherwise have resulted in sticking.

' A further object of the invention is to provide means within theclothes receptacle which will automatically prevent sticking of clothesto the receptacle after the centrifuging operation.

Another object of the invention is to provide such anti-sticking meansat a minimum of expense and with a minimum of change from previouslyprovided constructions.

Patented Jan. 10, 1961 It is known that adherence results as water isforced outwardly through the clothes during the centrifuging operation;the fabric of the clothes and the surface of the basket are brought intointimate contact as the water passes through, and therefore the clothesremain stuck to the basket at the end of the spin operation to theextent that the force of gravity is not sufficient to cause the clothesto fall away. It has further been ascertained by experimentation that ifa substantial number of clothes are precluded from the intimate contactwith the basket, not only will they not stick but they will knock theother stuck clothes loose from the basket during a tumbling operationsubsequent to the spin; thus, even though part of the clothes stick tothe basket during the spin part of the cycle, the final elfect is tohave all the clothes tumbling freely. In pursuance of thisexperimentally established fact, I carry out my invention by providing,in a washer-dryer machine, a construction within the basket which willpermit the centrifuging operation to remove most of the liquid from thefabrics therein but which will insure that a substantial part of thefabrics being washed are precluded from contacting the basket surface sothat even though some of the fabrics should stick to the basket thetumbling action of the unstuck fabrics will knock the rest of thefabrics loose. The machine includes the usual substantially cylindricalclothes receptacle rotatable on a non-vertical axis, together with meansfor rotating the receptacle both at tumbling speed and spin speed, meansfor introducing liquid into the receptacle for treating the clothes atan appropriate time during the tumbling operation, and means for heatdrying the clothes. Within the receptacle, flap means of flexiblenon-hygroscopic material, substantially free from any tendency to stickto the basket wall, is secured to the cylindrical wall of the receptacleso as to lie against that wall by centrifugal force when the basket isspinning, but so as to hang down from the wall by its own weight whenthe basket is either stopped or rotating at tumble speed. The flapmeans, which is preferably imperforate, covers a substantial part of thecylindrical wall when it lies thereagainst. The cylindrical wall has asubstantial number of perforations formed therein in the portion thereofwhich is not coverable by the flap means so as to provide for removal ofthe liquid from the clothes during the centrifugal extraction.

A substantial part of the clothes lies against the flap means during thespinning operation. As soon as the speed of the basket is slowed down totumble again, the flap means, which of course do not stick to the basketsince they are flexible and non-hygroscopic, fall away from the basketwall taking with them the clothes which are lying thereagainst. Theseclothes are therefore free to tumble as soon as the speed decreases, andthey in turn knock loose the other clothes which lie against the wall ofthe basket so that within a very short period. after tumbling speed isresumed all the clothes are tumbling freely.

The subject matter which constitutes the invention is particularlypointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of thisspecification. The invention itself however, both as to organization andmethod of operation, together with further'objects and advantagesthereof, may best be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a rear elevational view of. a combination washer-dryer withthe rear panel thereof removed, partially sectionalized and with certainsurfaces broken away to illustrate details;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view, also partly in section and withcertain surfaces broken away to show the details of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevational view of the improved construction withinthe clothes container of a washer-dryer machine constructed inaccordance with the invention; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to that of Fig. 3, with clothes in thecontainer and with the container being rotated at a speed appropriatefor centrifugal extraction of liquid from the clothes.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, there is shown acombination washer-dryer machine where the operating elements of themachine are included within the outer cabinet structure which mayinclude, by way of example, a wrap-around central section 1 supported ona base assembly 2 and carrying a separate top 3 provided with anintegral backsplash panel 4. Access to the interior of the machine isprovided by a door 5 mounted on concealed hinges and opened by means ofa knee operated latch control 6. The machine is so constructed that whena load of soiled clothes is placed therein it proceeds through asequence of operations, first washing the clothes and then drying them.In order to provide complete flexibility of operation of the machine anumber of operator controls may be included therein. The controlsthemselves form no part of this invention and are normally containedwithin a casing such as 7, for instance, secured to the backsplash panel4 and connected to one or more suitable rotatable control knobs 8provided on the front of the backsplash panel for convenient operatorselection of a suitable sequence of operations.

As shown in the figures, the machine is of the nonvertical type; in thespecific embodiment illustrated, the axis is horizontal, that is, themachine has a clothes basket or receptacle 9 mounted for rotation on agenerally horizontal axis within an outer enclosing tub structure 10.Tub 10 is mounted to base 2 by means of arms 10a which are secured toplate 10b fixedly attached to the base. The basket includes acylindrical shell or wall 11 which is closed at its rear end by means ofa suitable wall or plate 12. The basket also includes a front wall 13which is formed so as to define a loading access opening 14. The basketis rotatably supported by a shaft 15 which is mounted in an elongatedbearing 16 supported from rear wall 17 of tub 10. The tub is providedwith an opening 18 in the front wall thereof which is aligned with theaccess opening 14 to the basket and door 5 so that clothes may be placedinto and removed from the basket. Door 5 seals against a suitable gasket19 during operation of the machine.

During the operation of the machine, the basket 9 is rotatably driven byany suitable means such as an electric motor 20 through a driveincluding a pair of flexible belts 21 and 22. Belt 21 connects theoutput pulley (not shown) of motor 20 to the input pulley (not shown) ofa transmission assembly 23. Belt 22 connects the output pulley 24 oftransmission assembly 23 to a basket drive pulley 25 mounted on shaft 15of basket 9. Transmission assembly 23 is of the multiple speed type,that is, the ratio thereof can be changed so that the basket is drivenat two different speeds. The transmisison assembly thus provides onebasket speed for clothes tumbling and another basket speed forcentrifugal extraction or spin. The ratio of the transmission assemblymay be changed by means of a suitable spring biased solenoid actuatedplunger 26. In one position of the solenoid plunger the transmissionratio is such that the basket is driven at a suitable speed for washingand tumbling the clothes, for example, 44 revolutions per minute. In theother position of the plunger, the ratio of transmission is changed sothat the basket is driven at a suitable speed for centrifugalextraction, normally in excess of 200 revolutions per minute. During theoperation of the machine the basket 9 is continuously rotated by meansof this drive.

To heat the clothes during the drying portion of the cycle, there isprovided in the machine a suitable heater assembly such as the oneillustrated which includes two heaters 27 and 28. These heaters, whichmay be used to warm the wash water during the washing portion of thecycle when desired, are normally mounted within the upper portion of tub10 so that when energized they heat the basket 9. The heating elementsare preferably of the sheathed type in which a resistance wire ismaintained in spaced relation with an outer sheath by a highlycompressed granulated heat conducting electrically insulating compoundsuch as magnesium oxide. Such heating elements are sold under thetrademark Calrod and are available commercially. When the heaters areenergized during the washing cycle they heat the water by rst heatingthe basket. Then, as the basket dips into the wash water at the bottomof the tub, it in turn heats the water, serving as a heat transfer meansbetween the heating elements and the washing liquid. When the heatersare energized during the drying cycle, the heat transferred to theclothes basket is then passed on to the clothes to cause vapor migrationout of the clothes. Since the outer cylindrical wall of the basket isperforated, as shown by small spaced openings 29 (which will be furtherdiscussed below) some of the heat from the heating elements passesdirectly to the clothes by radiation.

In order that the machine will not be damaged by the heat produced byheaters 27 and 28, it is necessary that the basket 9 be rotatingwhenever they are energized. If either of belts 21 and 22 should fail,the basket 9 stops rotating since it is then no longer connected to themotor 20. Therefore, safety means are generally provided in the machinewhereby the heaters 27 and 28 are de-energized whenever either beltfails. The safety means comprise a belt switch 30 which is arranged on apivotally mounted sled 31 which supports transmission assembly 23. Uponthe failure of either belt the sled 31 is moved by spring biasing meansattached thereto and this movement results in the operation of switch 30to open the heater circuit. The arrangement of sled 31 and switch 30 isfully described and claimed in Patent Number 2,750,782, issued to DanielL. Du Hamell, Jr. and assigned to the General Electric Company, owner ofthe present invention.

The means whereby water is admitted to and discharged from tub 10 duringoperation of the machine is best shown in Fig. 1. The water supply meansincludes connections 32 and 33 through which hot and cold water issupplied to the machine for the washing operation. A valve controlled bya solenoid 34 admits hot water to the machine and a valve controlled byan opposed solenoid 35 admits cold water to the machine. The hot andcold water valves under the control of the solenoids 34 and 35 dischargethrough a common outlet conduit 36, through a suitable air gap, and intoa funnel 37 which discharges into a line 38 leading to the interior oftub 10 through sump 39 formed at the bottom of tub 10 (the connection ofline 38 and sump 39 not being shown). The air gap provided by funnel 37makes it impossible for water to be syphoned from the machine tocontaminate the incoming water supply line. In the illustrated machine,a pressure actuated sensing device, or water level control, 40 controlsboth solenoids 34 and 35 to maintain the proper water level in themachine during the washing operation. This sensing device is connectedto the interior of tub 10 by a suitable line 41.

The illustrated machine is of the type which uses cold water during thedrying cycle for condensing the moisture extracted from the clothes.This condenser water is admitted to the machine through an additionalsolenoid actuated valve controlled by 'a solenoid 42. Solenoid 42 isenergized during the drying operation so that the valve passes water ata slow rate suflicicnt to condense from the air the moisture vaporizedfrom the clothes. As

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shown, the condenser water valve discharges into funnel 43 through aseparate conduit 44, with an air gap between conduit 44 and funnel 43preventing supply line contamination as before. From the funnel, thecondenser water flows through a line 45 and a connection 46 to anopening 47 formed in the wall of the tub 10. The wall below opening 47,as shown in Fig. 2, is formed with an inverted V-shaped bead 48 so thatthe condenser water is spread over the side of the tub as it flows down.In being so spread out, the water cools a substantial portion of thearea of the side wall to provide a large cool surface for condensingmoisture extracted from the clothes during the heat drying operation.

The wash and rinse water used during the washing portion of theoperation, and the condenser water and the moisture extracted from theclothes during the drying operation, are discharged from the machinethrough sump 39 at the bottom of tub 10. A suitable discharge hose 49leads from the sump to a motor driven drain pump 50 which discharges tothe household drain.

With the apparatus shown, any suitable sequence dederived from the basicsequence of washing, rinsing, and spinning may be utilized to effect thewashing portion of the cycle, and is followed by tumbling of basket 9with suitable heating of the clothes being provided by the heatingelements 27 and 28. One such suitable washing and drying cycle in amachine of the same general type is completely described in Patent2,819,540, issued January 14, 1958 to John W. Toma et al., assigned tothe General Electric Company, the owner of the present invention.However, it will be understood that other control arrangements arepossible, that many deviations from the sequence of wash, rinse and spinmay be followed, and that other heat drying cycles besides theparticular one shown in the Toma et a1. patent may be used. Theimportant point is that it is important to terminate the wash portion ofthe operation with a spin to make the clothes as dry as possible priorto the heat drying operation, and that this spin should be at arelatively high speed since the higher the rotational speed the greaterwill be the amount of liquid centrifugally extracted from the clothesprior to the heat drying operation.

In order to permit a relatively high spin speed without the attendantdifliculty of the clothes sticking to wall 11 of the machine after thespeed drops back to tumble, the following arrangement is provided inaccordance with the invention, with particular reference to Figs. 2, 3and 4. Within the basket 9, and secured to the cylindrical wall 11thereof, appropriate flap means are secured so that when the basket isat standstill or rotating at tumble speed the tendency of the flap meanswill be to hang down by their own weight. In the embodiment shown inFigs. 3 and 4, the flap means consist of three individual flaps 51 eachsecured to the basket wall 11 at one end by suitable means such as, forinstance, rivets 52. The basket 9 is normally provided on its inner wall11 with a suitable number of projecting ribs or vanes 53 (three in theillustrated construction) so that during rotation at tumble speed theclothes will be lifted up from the bottom of the basket and raised to apredetermined level before they again fall to the bottom of the basketthereby providing a desirable free circulation of the clothes in thebasket in a so-called tumble pattern. Preferably, the flaps 51 aresecured by rivets 52 adjacent the vanes 53 and just ahead of them withrespect to the direction of rotation; with this arrangement, each flapduring high speed spin stretches out along wall 11 of the basket tocover a substantial part of the wall area between the vane 53 adjacentwhich it is attached and the next vane ahead is in the direction ofrotation. As shown in Fig. 2 each flap 51 is preferably imperforate aswill be further discussed herebelow. It is important that each flap beformed of a non-hygroscopic material which also has the quality offlexibility without undue resilience so that it will have substantiallyno tendency to adhere to the 6 basket wall. strips of rubber of 0.032inch thickness provide the necessary qualities.

During a complete operation, a suitable load of clothes, illustrated at54 in Fig. 4, is washed, the machine proceeding through the appropriatewashing and rinsing cycles and then going into a high speed spin toeffect centrifugal extraction of liquid from the clothes. As the speedof rotation becomes high enough to overcome the force of gravity on theflap members 51 and on the clothes 54, they are flung out to the innersurface of wall. 11 of basket 9. Normally, as shown in Fig. 4, the flaps54 being relatively light are flung out first so that they lie againstthe wall 11. However, it will be understood that in some cases smallarticles of clothing may be flung out first and that the fiaps will thenlie against the articles of clothes, holding them between the flaps andthemripheral wall 11. However, this possibility is substantiallyimmaterial to the operation of my improved antisticking construction.

It is to be noted at this point that it is important that the basketperipheral wall 11 be provided with perforations 29 over that areathereof which is not covered by flaps 51 when they are in the positionshown in Fig. 4, but that if so desired the perforations 29 may beomitted in that part of the basket which is so covered by flaps 51during centrifugal spin as shown in Fig. 4.

As the basket comes up to spin speed, the flaps are held against thewall 11 of the basket by centrifugal force and the clothes in turn arethen plastered around the basket, as shown, with the extraction ofliquid proceeding as'the centrifugal force causes the liquid to move ina generally radially outward direction until it passes through theperforations 29 and flows down into sump 39 to be disposed of. Ofcourse, the liquid in the clothm which are in contact with the flaps 51will flow to one side or the other of a flap to find its way out of therotating basket under the influence of the centrifugal force. Thus, theflaps have very little effect on the amount of liquid which is removedfrom the basket at any given speed. This action is continued for aperiod of time suitable for removal of the major part of the liquid inclothes 54. The speed of rotation is then brought back to tumble. Atthis point, there is insufiicient centrifugal force to overcome theforce of gravity on the clothes which were plastered against the flapsand on the flaps themselves. There is no sticking of the clothes to theflaps, partly because of the non-hygroscopic nature of the material ofthe flaps, partly because of their flexibility which causes the flaps ineffect to change shape as they fall downward by their own weight, and toa minor extent, where the preferred construction is provided, becausethere are no perforations in the flaps through which the water canmigrate with a tendency to bring the clothes into more intimate contactwith the flaps. A second more important benefit of having the flapsimperforate is that there is no tendency for hooks, buttons and the likeon the clothes to tear the flaps by catching in the perforations aswould be the case where perforations were so provided. However, thegeneral action of the flaps is primarily a result of their flexiblenon-hygroscopic characteristics which also preclude adherence of theflaps to the surface of basket wall 11.

Thus, the return to tumble speed causes the flaps to fall away from thebasket, and the clothes which were against the flaps to fall away fromthe flaps. This in turn brings these clothes into tumbling contact withany other clothes which may be stuck to the periphery of the basketbecause of the intimate contact therewith caused by the water passingthrough the clothes and out of the basket. As the clothes which havefallen free tumble about in the basket they knock more and more of thestuck clothes loose until, in a short time, all of the clothes aretumbling freely in the desired pattern.

It is preferable that each flap cover substantially the It has beenfound that relatively thin.

7 o width of the basket, as shown in Fig. 2, although it is the totalarea of basket peripheral surface area covered by the flaps which isimportant rather than the precise shape of any one flap. By way ofexample, a basket 26 inches in diameter and 16 inches long in an axialdirection (and therefore having a peripheral surface area of 1306.24square inches) was provided with three imperforate flaps securedsubstantially as shown, each of which had a length of 12 inches and awidth of 14 inches, thus covering 504 square inches of the inner surfaceof the basket when in the position in Fig. 4. The flaps were formed ofrubber, .032 inch in thickness. It was found that the provision of flapssuch as these in the manner described hereabove permitted a load of 4pounds of diapers to be spun at 366 r.p.m. without sticking, as opposedto a maximum speed of 207 r.p.m. which has been found to be permissibleif no anti-sticking arrangement is provided. The diiference in theamount of water removed as a result of the difference in speed was threepounds for this particular load, which would have taken approximately 20additional minutes to remove by use of the heaters.

It will thus be seen that the invention provides a novel and economicalmethod of inhibiting sticking of the clothes to the surface of a clothescontainer once the centrifuging action has been terminated.

While in accordance with the patent statutes I have described what atpresent is considered to be the preferred embodiment of my invention, itwill be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes andmodifications may be made therein without departing from the invention,and I therefore aim in the appended claims to cover all such changes andmodifications, as fall within the true spirit and scope of theinvention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. In a laundry machine, a substantially cylindrical clothes receptaclerotatable on a non-vertical axis, means for rotating said receptacle atclothes tumbling speed, means for introducing liquid into saidreceptacle for treating clothes while they are being tumbled, means forthereafter rotating said receptacle at a relatively high centrifugingspeed to extract liquid from the clothes, and at least one imperforateflap member of flexible non-hygroscopic material secured at one end onlythereof to the cylindrical wall of said receptacle within saidreceptacle, said flap member being formed to lie against saidcylindrical wall by centrifugal .force when said basket is spinning andhanging down from said cylindrical wall by its own weight when theportion thereof to which it is secured is above it and said basket isstopped or rotating at tumbling speed, said flap member having a widthextending substantially the axial length of said receptacle and coveringa substantial part of said cylindrical wall when it lies thereagainst,said cylindrical wall having a plurality of perforation formed thereinin the portion thereof which is uncovered by said flap member duringspinning of said basket.

2. In a laundry machine, a substantially cylindrical clothes receptaclerotatable on a horizontal axis, means for rotating said receptacle atclothes tumbling speed, means for introducing liquid into saidreceptacle for treating clothes While they are being tumbled, means forthereafter rotating said receptacle in a predetermined direction at arelatively high centrifuging speed to extract liquid from the clothes, aplurality of equi-spaced vanes extending inwardly from the cylindricalwall of said receptacle, and a plurality of imperforate flaps ofnonhygroscopic flexible material each secured at one end only to saidcylidrical wall within said receptacle adjacent said vanes respectively,each of said flaps being secured directly ahead of each of said vanesrelative to said predetermined direction of rotation, said flaps beingformed to lie against said cylindrical wall by centrifugal force whensaid basket is spinning and hanging down from said centrifugal wall bytheir own weight when the portion of said cylindrical wall to which eachflap is secured is above it and said basket is stopped or rotating attumble speed, said flaps covering a substantial part of said cylindricalwall when they lie thereagainst, said cylindrical wall having asubstantial number of perforations formed therein in the portion whichis uncovered by said flaps during spinning of said basket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,556,490 Chamberlin June 12, 1951 2,660,870 Kennedy Dec. 1, 19532,771,766 Dunlap Nov. 27, 1956 2,867,106 Stone et a1. Jan. 6, 19592,867,107 Brown Jan. 6, 1959

